First Robin of Spring

Though it is a myth, of course, that American Robins are not around in winter, I still enjoyed my first robins of spring yesterday in Flushing Meadows Park and Kissena Park in Queens. They were around in numbers, feeding on invertebrates found in both grassy and disturbed areas. Their tut-tut-tuts when disturbed were music to this birder’s ears and as welcome as the bright sunshine that shone down all day long. And while I saw some rather large flocks this winter I still appreciate seeing good old Turdus migratorius in springtime acting in a manner more fitting the stereotypical view of robin behavior. Though some say the European Robin is the real red robin we all know that the American Robin is the cool red robin…

Here’s hoping we all see many robins this year, regardless as to what species of robin it is! And let’s also hope that they keep making more robins so there will always be some to see!

Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy, their son, Desmond Shearwater, and their indoor cat, B.B. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.

Hey Corey, great captures of this iconic bird. I love watching the robins and hearing their sweet songs in the springtime here. The fourth shot of the bird standing on the rock is exceptional. I’m looking forward to seeing many more in the coming months.

Hi Julie – are you sure it’s female bird, because my guess would be that at this time of year the sun is shining straight onto your windows and the Robin is seeing its reflection and in a bit of a ‘rising sap’ hormonal state is also ‘seeing’ a rival and is repeatedly trying to drive it away.

Can anyone explain the strange springtime behaviour of a robin which flies continually into my front window and back to a tree just in front of the window? It has happened for the past couple of years without fail, and I simply don’t understand it! It starts early in the morning, and until I realize what it is, it sounds as if someone is incessantly tapping on my front window! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

@Lewis: Odds are that the bird is seeing its reflection and thinking it is a rival bird. If you put up a couple decals on the window (or otherwise reduce the reflectivity) it might break up the reflection enough that the robin will be convinced that it has driven his rival away.

I’ve been informed by a “Medium” that a robin pecking at your window suggests that the bird is a “Angel Friend Guide” and wants you to consider what your thoughts or actions are when it strikes the window. I was informed that the bird knows what you are thinking.

I hope he/she didn’t charge you for that piece of advice Dave? I guess your medium isn’t much of a birder because Corey gave the answer a few comments above, and that’s the right one…What makes me so certain – because birds all over the world have been doing the same thing to reflections in water, mirrors, windows, metal doors etc etc for many, many years. Sorry to be a mythbuster.

@Kaleb: Some birds attack their own reflection becasue they think they are attacking a rival. Try putting temporary stickers on the window, or anything else that will break up the reflection. In a day or two the bird should get it and quit.

When I was a boy growing up in Iowa some sixty years ago, we would “stamp” the first robins in spring. You licked your thumb, press it into the palm of your other hand followed by a “stamp” with the bottom of your fist. You could “stamp” as many robins as you wanted and once “stamped”, that was your robin and no subsequent “stamps” were binding.

I am mostly sane and not nearly creative enough to think this up, but nobody has heard of this. Can anyone help?

We “stamped” the first Robbin we saw in spring. My mom taught me. I think it was to bring good luck. I live in southern Wisconsin. And that’s 60 odd years ago, too. Maybe it’s regional. Wherever I was I stamped and then called mom. It was a race to see who stamped first. My grandmother also stamped.

My sister and I grew up in Napanee Ontario Canada (200 miles east of Toronto) and we “stamped” robins when we were kids…. in fact we still do! I’d never heard of anyone else doing it and I have no idea where we learned it.

I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. My mother, born in 1924, taught my sister and me to stamp robins when we were kids in the 50’s and 60’s. What a joyous memory particularly after a winter like this! Kalamazoo had early families from the Netherlands…not sure if the custom was popular there.

The last two years, starting the end of March, every day a flock of 15-30 Robins gather in the yard, and all of them heading the same direction, run about 3 feet, stop, run 3 feet again, and continue to do that repeatedly. What are they doing?

Oh yeah, I grew up stamping the first robin – just as you explained Fred Jacob, licking the thumb and pressing to palm of other hand etc. And I grew up in Nebraska and did this as a youngster. Happy spring to everybody.

Fred Jacob, when I was a little girl my mom would stamp the Robins. She past away when I was 8. Everytime I see a Robin I think of her. I googled for an hour looking for anything on this. Thank you for posting. I also grew up in Iowa.

thanks to all for shedding light on the tradition of stamping robins—my mother who died several yrs ago at the age of 89 always stamped robins, but none of us ever knew the reason—-she is looking down on all of us robin stampers—keep stamping!

So fun to hear everyone’s comments on stamping robins. I, too, grew up with the tradition in NE Iowa… passed on by my dad. We never knew, exactly, why we did it.. just “because Dad did”, I guess. I love remembering him this way and I’m so happy others grew up with the same tradition!

thank you so much for posting about “stamping” robins. My grandmother ALWAYS stamped robins and as she grew older w/ diabetes she couldn’t see that well but she could always see the robins!! I still do it and my bf thought I was crazy for doing so!!! Now I know I’m not!! oh and I’m from NE Indiana!!

I see many of the responders grew up in Iowa. I too, grew up in Northern Iowa and have never heard of “stamping” robins. My sister has and her daughters do it, one who moved to Oregon still continues. Moving out of Iowa didn’t “cure” her! 🙂 Anyway I’m glad another niece found this site to answer the questions. LN

Southern Ontario, too. My dad stamped the first robin each spring, and I have been doing it wrong until I read about the lick-palm- stamp technique. I can see him doing it, gone though he is six years. If you don’t have snow, you don’t get it.

I just saw my first two robins of the spring on my front lawn and promptly stamped them just as I did as a kid, and taught my kids and grandkids to do. I’m from southeast Iowa. I’d been told by my mother that as soon as you’ve stamped 100 robins, you can make a wish and it will come true.
I was curious about this custom but nothing came up on a search until I found this website, so thank you to everyone for sharing and letting me know I wasn’t stamping alone!